Proceedings of conference on rheumatic fever : Washington, D.C., October 5-7, 1943.

  • Conference on Rheumatic Fever (1943 : Washington, D.C.)
Date:
1945
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Proceedings of conference on rheumatic fever : Washington, D.C., October 5-7, 1943. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    109/142 (page 103)
    Miss Barttetr. I have one comment on this matter of coordination of re- sources—particularly medical and social resources—based on observation of programs in various parts of the country. It has seemed to me there are several stages in the development of a new program. First we try to educate the community and ourselves. At this stage of planning we analyze the situa- tion to find what services are available to supplement our program. ‘Then we test our plan through actual cases and we develop our working relationships with the other agencies. While the program is still new, it is important that there should be a third step, namely, an evaluation of the program as a whole. At this stage we review the situation to decide what responsibilities each agency can appropriately accept, what gaps remain unfilled, and how far the policies and procedures can be crystallized without becoming rigid. Since there is no particular circumstance that presses us to this third step, we do not always take it and thereby lose clarity in our program in later years. Mr. Linck. Are there any other comments from medical-social workers? Miss Banker. I don’t believe our experience in the rheumatic-fever program has been very different from that in the crippled children’s program. We have looked on this program as offering an opportunity to know the individual children and their social needs_a little more intimately and also to explore local resources in limited areas more exhaustively. The medical-social group met last night and reviewed the medical-social workers’ activities in these programs with particular reference to the building up of resources in the communities to which the children were to return after care in clinic or hospital or sanatorium had been completed. It seemed to us that possibly at this time when the case loads of welfare agencies are reduced because of increasing employment op- portunities, there might be a chance for us to reemphasize with the welfare groups the contribution they can make in the care of handicapped children, with the interpretation and help that we can give to them. Mr. Linck. Have other medical-social workers pertinent comments or ques- tions? If not, I am going to close this part of the meeting by expressing my personal appreciation of your very generous participation in what to me has been a very stimulating and provocative discussion. [The meeting was adjourned at 12:45 o’clock to reconvene at 2. ] THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1943—-AFTERNOON SESSION FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF PROGRAMS FOR CHILDREN WITH RHEUMATIC FEVER Dr. Extot. This is the final session of this conference and I don’t intend that it shall be too long. You have had 24% very busy days. I hope that at this point we can attempt to pull things together a little bit. We don’t wish to have you go away with a feeling of complete confusion. On the other hand, I should be very glad if you would go away feeling that the job is not yet accomplished. This is the first of a series of conferences that I hope we shall be able to call from time totime. Other kinds of conferences may be called on rheumatic fever in children. We have no short road ahead of us. We have a long row to hoe and you are the people who have begun to hoe it. We want to get direction as a result of this conference in what we are trying to do. I think many of you probably want to know a little more what the pat-